


Demonstuck: The Torment of Chesbridge

by SeerofHope_KnightofDoom



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Demonstuck, Derse Dreamers are not, Everyone Has Issues, Gen, Humanstuck, Murder, Prospit Dreamers are Demons, Reverse Demonstuck, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 14:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11671221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeerofHope_KnightofDoom/pseuds/SeerofHope_KnightofDoom
Summary: The small town of Chesbridge has been plagued by demonic activity, which the police are dismissing as forest predators. When someone close to Sollux is killed, he decides it's time to get a hold of a professional. Or two.In come the Striders, Dirk and Dave.





	Demonstuck: The Torment of Chesbridge

**== >Vriska: Make her pay.**

The girl runs through the streets, desperate to escape you. She flees as fast as she can, but the blood running down her leg makes it easy for her to be tracked and hard for her to escape. You would be close if she didn’t duck into a building soon, but every single one she tried so far was locked due to the late night. You can smell her fear.

She turns down a side road, right into you. She’s not crying, but she looks absolutely livid.

“What’s the matter, Aradia? Bad break?” you ask patronizingly.

She turns to run away again, but you grab her by the leg and pull back. She lands flat on her stomach. She rolls over onto her back and kicks with her good leg, but you’re stronger than her by a lot. “We had a deal!” she cried out.

“We did. Now we don’t. Weren’t you told that I have _all_ the irons in the fire, human? The contract _you_ signed specifically stated that if the deal we had fell through, it was null and void. Trust me, I have a pretty damn good lawyer if you want to fight me on this. I think I’d prefer to take what’s mine and end this already.”

You use your claw-like nails to slash her throat. Crimson red spills from the wound. You absorb your victim’s suffering and misery. A smirk forms on your cobalt lips.

A small voice disturbs you from your work. “Uhh... Won’t they find her and... be suspicious?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that fear is good, because it causes suffering?” you snap. You whirl around to face your guest, blood dripping from your hands. “Scare the shit of some humans, take in the suffering that follows, and become more powerful with each kill! Are you fucking stupid? Why am I even asking anymore? Of course you are.”

“I-I just think... being stealthy would... uhh... make the killing easier...” He shrinks away from your glare.

“What, you can’t kill a human without the element of surprise? You’re a weakling _and_ a coward!”

The smaller demon rubs the back of his neck nervously. He didn’t want to reply to that and you could see it. You look back at your kill. You are impressed with yourself, but the girl was only slightly stronger than your follower. You’d need to attack stronger targets if you want to _really_ challenge yourself.

You turn back around. “Let’s go, Tavros. We’ve got some planning to do. By which I mean I’ll come up with the plan and you’ll be totally useless as usual.”

“W... What about the body?”

“Let the humans worry about it.”

The two of you leave the scene, abandoning the corpse for the town to discover come morning.

* * *

**== >Sollux: Listen.**

You are on the computer, typing away, working on a coding project. Your headphones are on, your favorite song playing as the keys click away beneath your fingers. Something seems wrong with the music though, as though a glitch in the sound file were occurring. You open the application and check what you can, but all seems fine.

You remove your earbuds and find that there’s a faint whispering reverberating throughout your room. You look around. You’re alone.

_s0l... lux..._

You stand from your desk and checked the other rooms in your house. There is no one around your home. You approach your room and heard the whisper again, clearer.

_s0llux..._

“Hello?” you call out. There’s no reply.

_turn 0n the news..._

You turn on your TV and flip to the appropriate channel. After the TV comes back from commercial, the reporters speak of a brutal killing not far from your home. The time of death was last night, but there are still next to no clues. There’s a stab wound on her leg, but it appears as though her throat had been torn out by an animal. There had been no witnesses and the local police are asking for anyone with information to come forward.

They announced the name of the victim – Aradia Megido – and you feel like you're going to be sick. The two of you had been close for a significant part of your respective lives. She was dead, viciously murdered, at the young age of twenty five. You felt dizzy. You needed to sit down. 

You want to cry. Your vision is blurring already as hot tears begin to well in your eyes. She was a dear friend to you. She had helped you so much through hard times, and you were one of her first friends. You worked together on everything. She was the only one that believed you when you told her you could hear things no one else could. Now she was gone. Her voice could reach you, but you couldn’t see her.

You think back to your last conversation. She mentioned that she wanted to look into the recent killings. You were convinced the police could handle it on their own, but she fought tooth and nail that wounds on the latest victim looked too controlled to be a wild animal attack. She wanted your help so that you could actually talk to them, but you were in a foul mood (as usual) and told her off.

Now you wonder if it’s your fault.

_i’m 0kay_

Of course she’d say that. Somehow, when it came to you, her forgiveness was infinite.

_dem0ns..._

Your eyes go wide at that notion. Demons in the town do not bode well. You hear that they travel in large numbers. If Aradia was the first to go, you fear for your other friends as well. You honestly can’t believe the police haven’t talked to you yet.

_call the striders..._  

You have absolutely no idea who these “Striders” are, but you get the feeling you’ll be learning relatively soon.

_talk t0 city hall..._

You really don’t want to do that, but if there’s a risk of demonic infestation, you think it would be wise to warn someone. Assuming they don’t think you’re a total nutcase and try and put you on some weird medicine. You would really like to avoid that. Those medicines make it hard for you to focus – especially in situations like these.

_they will believe y0u... just sh0w them...._

“AA, how am I even supposed to get a hold of these assholes?”

_be patient... they will find y0u..._

You hate being sensitive to spirits sometimes. They never seem to be helpful when you need them to, even if it’s the spirit of your best friend. However, you also know that you won’t get any rest until you do it. So you pull up a document on your computer and begin writing. You let Aradia’s spirit guide your words. You’ve never been able to write very well or convincingly. Frankly, as long as no one else you love and/or care about gets hurt, you could give less of a shit what the mayor decides.

However, you do want to know that Aradia can rest in peace. She was always a good person.

_Mayor William Vernon,_

_It has been brought to our attention that the local “random” killings have demonic roots. We know this is a notion that you probably have zero interest in hearing, but bringing in supernatural experts is the only way that this city will live. Hear us out, or we’ll spam your mailbox with this warning until you pay attention to it. If that doesn’t work, we’ll meet you in public and won’t stop until you promise you’ll call in help._

_We don’t mean to threaten, but we are not the only concerned citizens about this. It disturbs the peace when we see another brutal killing on the news with no sign of who did it, even with all of our technologic advancement._

_The only names we have for you are the Striders. While we don’t personally know anything about them, our sources says they’re the best in the business for handling demonic infestations without attracting attention to the issue. Loose lips sink ships, and if word got out that demons are not only real but killing off citizens of our fair city? Area 51-type things would probably be happening._

_We suggest that the city hire them before it’s too late._

_Signed, in memory of the recent victims,  
_ _A.M. and S.C._

You think Aradia got more thoughts put to paper than you did, but you also think that’s probably for the best. You print out the document and put it in an envelope. You drive right by city hall every morning. You’ll probably just give it to whoever works in the lobby, insist it’s of crucial importance, and leave.

For now, you just hope the spirits let you sleep.

* * *

**== >Sollux: Retrieve mail.**

Among the various bills and junk mail, you have a reply from the mayor. Snail mail is faster than you recall. It’s only been a few days. You still prefer e-mail.

You open the letter and read it quickly.

_Dear Mr. Captor,_

_Thank you for taking the time to write. Your information was taken at face value. The recent killings, while abnormal, did not seem supernatural to the officers investigating them. However, this is not the first letter I have received about demonic entities within our fair city. The first few seemed like pranks, but then when I saw the next twenty, I knew with certainty trouble was afoot._

_As I write this letter, I am utilizing city resources to track down these experts you mentioned. The city will hire them – no expense is too great in relieving our city of monstrosities capable of such brutal murders._

_My condolences for the loss of Ms. Megido. It is my understanding that the two of you were very close. However, I must make a request of you, Mr. Captor. While there are many people in agreement with you that there are demons among us, the majority believe these killings to be less supernatural in nature. As such, I beseech that you refrain from discussing these matters with the public. As you pointed out, public knowledge of these matters would result in unsavory outcomes._

_On behalf of the city,  
_ _Mayor William Vernon_

You’re glad that the mayor decided to listen to you, but you still can’t help but feel as though something troubles you. The existence of demons never really seemed to trouble you before, but you’ve now lost someone to them. You feel like you need to do something about it.

Maybe you’ll look up the Striders, too.


End file.
